"I think it's going to lead to stopping a lot of this illegal dumping if people know that they can be charged with a felony," Lingle said.

Some who have fought illegal dumping call the bill a good first step but say more needs to be done. "We think it's going to be ineffective," said Glenn Martinez, a Waimanalo resident who has tried for years to rid his community of illegal dumping.

Martinez said the problem is that the law covers dumping large amounts of waste and not small makeshift dumps around his community.

Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club Hawai'i chapter, applauded Lingle's effort but believes it does not address the issue of a lack of enforcement staff. The Sierra Club fought unsuccessfully for passage of a bill that would allow citizens to bring suit against violators.

"It's not that we lack a hammer, we lack the eyes and ears in the community," Mikulina said.

Hawai'i has been plagued by illegal dumping, which was highlighted in a report in December by a legislative panel. It said the statewide problems range from appliances buried at a city incinerator site on O'ahu to tons of cars, washing machines and tires dumped at Polihale Beach on Kaua'i.

The law that takes effect immediately prohibits the dumping of 10 cubic yards or more of solid waste. The dumping is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $50,000 for each separate offense. A person could also be charged with the felony if the clean up of the waste costs more than $1,500.

The law applies to illegal dumps on public and private property.

Lingle said illegal dumping is inexcusable. "I don't believe there's any reason for people to dump garbage on the land," she said.

"To effectively deter all economic crime like this, the sanctions for doing it has to be large enough that the people are going to decide that the risks are greater than the potential rewards," he said.

"And when you don't have a felony for illegal disposal of solid waste, you have a huge gap that gets in the way of getting the deterrent effect that you need."

The administration believes the bill will be help the Environmental Crimes Unit that was formed within the attorney general's office in April. The unit — consisting of two investigators, a special agent for environmental investigations and a criminal environmental health specialist — is investigating about 12 possible violations.

Previously, the Health Department's Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch had jurisdiction over the violations. It could only impose civil penalties of up to $10,000.

Martinez, however, said the law should apply to all illegal dumping, regardless of how much or how often. "You can't throw trash or rubbish out of your car, period," he said.

Martinez and his wife, Liz, have fought to rid their Waimanalo neighborhood of illegal dump sites since they moved there about eight years ago, but can still point to several dump sites along the brush that form the road shoulders for the area's back streets.

One site, along Waikupunaha Street near the Hihimanu Street intersection, was littered with the carcasses of three cars and assorted other items from beer cans and freshly strewn garbage bags to portions of a couch and even a broken dart board.

Martinez said he's not sure that whoever dumped the waste could be slapped with a felony charge because it did not appear to total 10 cubic yards and would cost less than $1,500 to remove.

"It only kicks in under 10 cubic yards; that's a major commercial dump truck," he said. "We don't have any problems with commercial dump trucks coming up here. It's people."

While city officials have been good about tagging littered items which are removed relatively frequently, the problem persists because the garbage returns, he said.

The problem has been exacerbated because the bins in the nearby Waimanalo Convenience Center are often filled to capacity. That shuts down the facility until the bins are cleared, turning away motorists bringing their waste with them on their way to work, Martinez said.

Suzanne Jones, recycling coordinator for the city, said convenience centers around the island are closed at times because of filled bins, but she does not believe it has been a frequent occurrence at Waimanalo.

The new law also allows a person to be charged with the five-year felony if it is the person's third offense, regardless of the amount of waste. The first two offenses, if involving less than 10 cubic yards and less than $1,500 in cleanup, would remain petty misdemeanors.

"Catching someone up to three times is going to be next to impossible," environmental watchdog Caroll Cox said.